ΕΤΥΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ · The true sense of words
Every word carries an ancient story.
Etymon traces everyday words back to their Greek roots — the meanings hidden inside telephone, democracy and chaos, in five languages.
- words
- 4,728words
- Greek roots
- 3,605Greek roots
- languages
- 5languages
Aerolite
/ˈɛərəlaɪt/
A stony meteorite, as opposed to an iron one.
Literally: “air stone”
Explore by theme
From the operating theatre to the theatre itself, follow the roots wherever they lead.
Science & Technology
Discovery, machines, matter and the instruments that measure them.
290 wordsMedicine & Body
Anatomy, ailments, and the healing arts.
416 wordsMind & Emotion
Psychology, feeling, fear and the shapes of the self.
103 wordsPhilosophy & Thought
Ideas, reason, and the pursuit of wisdom.
106 wordsNumber & Measure
Geometry, arithmetic, logic and the units of the world.
118 wordsPlants & Creatures
Botany, zoology, and the naming of living things.
289 wordsEarth & Sky
Land, sea, weather, stone and the stars above them.
256 wordsPolitics & Society
Government, law, money and how people organise themselves.
160 wordsFaith & Ritual
Church, liturgy, scripture and what comes after.
149 wordsMyth & Legend
Gods, heroes, and the stories that shaped words.
144 wordsArt & Music
Building, sculpture, sound and the stage.
186 wordsWords & Writing
Grammar, rhetoric, letters and the craft of the sentence.
183 wordsSport & Contest
The stadium, the prize, and the trained body.
48 wordsEveryday Life
Common words with surprisingly ancient roots.
281 wordsWords worth knowing
See all →Greek in five languages
Greek in English
From atoms to democracy, English leans on ancient Greek for the vocabulary of science, thought, and everyday life.
2,729 words
Greek in German
German borrowed heavily from Greek for scholarship and technology — often reshaping the roots with its own spelling.
749 words
Greek in French
French inherited its Greek through Latin, then went back to the source each time it needed a name for something new.
450 words
Greek in Spanish
Spanish carries Greek in two layers: the old words Rome passed on, and the learned ones the sciences borrowed later.
450 words
Greek in Italian
Greek colonists reached Italy long before Latin spread — and Italian has been trading words with Greek ever since.
350 words